Ross County have struggled over the past two years in the Scottish Premiership, facing relegation battles in both seasons to secure their place in the division.
They placed in the relegation playoff place in both 2022-23, narrowly defeating Partick Thistle 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw, and 2023-24, comfortably beating Raith Rovers 6-1 on aggregate.
Don Cowie, appointed in February 2024, would have been aiming to steer the team clear of another relegation battle this season, and they have made a solid start in pursuit of that goal.
After winning all four of their Scottish League Cup games, Ross County kickstarted their league campaign with back-to-back draws against Motherwell and Dundee United.
A disappointing 1-0 defeat to Spartans in the second round of the Scottish League Cup ended their unbeaten start, and defeats to Rangers and Aberdeen followed.
Cowie’s men were able to bounce back with a 2-0 victory against Dundee FC, and they have since gone on to narrowly draw 3-3 with St Johnstone, scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes to equalise, and 1-1 with Hearts, heartbreakingly conceding a 96th-minute equaliser.
Cowie will be hoping his team can extend that positive run against Celtic on Sunday, but the Staggies will certainly be major underdogs heading into a game against the league leaders.
Celtic have enjoyed a phenomenal start to the 2024-25 season, winning all of their first nine matches across all competitions, including a historic 5-1 victory against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League.
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They finally suffered their first defeat of the campaign in their last outing, a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, a result Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to put behind them with a convincing win on Sunday.
The Bhoys should be in good spirits heading into this match despite their last loss, as Celtic have scored an impressive 20 goals in six league outings while remarkably yet to concede a single goal in the league.
Rodgers’s side have also been dominant in this fixture in recent years, winning all of their last 11 encounters since suffering their last defeat to Ross County in February 2021.
